Pacifica State Beach is one of the most popular beginner surfing spots in the San Francisco area. Among surfers it is commonly known as Linda Mar Beach because it fronts Pacifica's Linda Mar subdivision. It is a State Beach managed by the City of Pacifica through an operating agreement with California State Parks. The Taco Bell restaurant on the beach side of the highway is reputed to be the world's most scenic Taco Bell location.[2]

Between 1989 and 2005, Pacifica State Beach was the focus of an extensive beach habitat restoration program, in association with the San Pedro Creek flood control and habitat restoration. In 2002, as part of a partnership with the Pacifica Land Trust and the California Coastal Conservancy, this involved a $2.2 million purchase and removal of two ocean side homes and surrounding acreage for the purpose of beach and estuary restoration.[5] This project was identified as a Top Restored Beach by the
American Shore and Beach Preservation Association in 2005, cited as "...an example of a well-planned, well-executed coastal project that is the product of cooperative efforts of the local community, state and federal agencies, scientists, engineers and citizens. The complex beach and habitat restoration project involved over 10 regulatory and permitting agencies, funding from eight granting agencies and the active participation of eight environmental groups. It is one of the first beaches to utilize managed retreat as a method of shoreline protection. In addition to beach nourishment, it has restored habitat for four threatened and endangered species and enhanced community access with expanded parking lots, trails and new restrooms. Over 1 million people visit this beach annually".[6]

Pinnacles is managed by the National Park Service and the majority of the park is protected as wilderness. The national park is divided by the formations into East and West Divisions, connected by foot trails. The east side has shade and water, the west has high walls, the rock formations provide for spectacular pinnacles that attract rock climbers. The park features unusual talus caves that house at least thirteen species of bat, Pinnacles is most often visited in spring or fall because of the intense heat during the summer months. Park lands are prime habitat for prairie falcons, and are a site for California condors that have been hatched in captivity. Pinnacles National Monument was established in 1908 by U. S. PresidentTheodore Roosevelt, Pinnacles National Park was created from the former Pinnacles National Monument by legislation passed by Congress in late 2012 and signed into law by President Barack Obama on January 10,2013. Native Americans in the Pinnacles region comprised the Chalon and Mutsun groups of the Ohlone people and these native people declined with the arrival of the Spanish in the 18th century, who brought novel diseases and changes to the natives way of life.

The last Chalon had died or departed from the area by 1810, from 1810 to 1865, when the first Anglo-American settlers arrived, the Pinnacles region was a wilderness without human use or habitation. The establishment of a Spanish mission at Soledad hastened the areas native depopulation through disease, archaeological surveys have found thirteen sites inhabited by Native Americans, twelve of which post-date the establishment of the missions. One site is believed to be about 2000 years old, by the 1880s the Pinnacles, known as the Palisades, were visited by picnickers from the surrounding communities who would explore the caves and camp. The first account of the Pinnacles region appeared in print in 1881, between 1889 and 1891, newspaper articles shifted from describing excursions to the Palisades to calling them the Pinnacles. Interest in the rose to the point that the Hollister Free Lance sent a reporter to the Pinnacles. Investors came from San Francisco to consider placing a hotel there. In 1894 a post office was established in Bear Valley, since there was at least one other Bear Valley in California, the post office was named Cook after Mrs.

Hains maiden name. In 1924 the post office was renamed Pinnacles, Schuyler Hain was a homesteader who arrived in the Pinnacles area in 1891 from Michigan, following his parents and eight siblings to Bear Valley. White, was a student at Stanford University, and White brought one of his professors to see the Pinnacles in 1893, dr. Gilbert was impressed by the scenery, and his comments inspired Hain to publicize the region. Hain led tours to Bear Valley and through the caves, advocating the preservation of the Pinnacles, Hains efforts resulted in a 1904 visit by Stanford president David Starr Jordan, who contacted Fresno Congressman James C. Jordan and Needham in turn influenced Gifford Pinchot to advocate the establishment of the Pinnacles Forest Reserve to President Theodore Roosevelt, Roosevelt proclaimed the establishment on July 8,1906

The U. S. Supreme Court found that the plain intent of Congress in enacting the ESA was to halt and reverse the trend toward species extinction, whatever the cost. The Act is administered by two agencies, the United States Fish and Wildlife Service and the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration. Experimental, nonessential populations of endangered species are treated as threatened species on land, for consultation purposes. The near-extinction of the bison and the disappearance of the passenger pigeon helped drive the call for wildlife conservation starting in the 1900s, the public was introduced to a new concept, extinction. Market hunting for the trade and for the table was one aspect of the problem. The early naturalists killed birds and other wildlife for study, personal curio collections, while habitat losses continued as communities and farmland grew, the widespread use of pesticides and the introduction of non-native species affected wildlife. One species in particular received widespread attention—the whooping crane, the species historical range extended from central Canada South to Mexico, and from Utah to the Atlantic coast.

It would be eight years before the first national law regulating wildlife commerce was signed. The whooping crane population by 1941 was estimated at about only 16 birds still in the wild, the Lacey Act of 1900 was the first federal law that regulated commercial animal markets. It prohibited interstate commerce of animals killed in violation of state game laws, other legislation followed, including the Migratory Bird Conservation Act of 1929, a 1937 treaty prohibiting the hunting of right and gray whales, and the Bald Eagle Protection Act of 1940. These laws had a low cost to society–the species were relatively little opposition was raised. Whereas the Lacey Act dealt with game management and market commerce species. The predecessor of the ESA was the Endangered Species Preservation Act of 1966, passed by Congress, this act permitted the listing of native U. S. animal species as endangered and for limited protections upon those animals. It directed federal agencies to preserve habitat on their lands.

The Act consolidated and even expanded authority for the Secretary of the Interior to manage, other public agencies were encouraged, but not required, to protect species. The act did not address the commerce in endangered species and parts, in March,1967 the first list of endangered species was issued under the act. It included 14 mammals,36 birds,6 reptiles and amphibians and 22 fish and it included only vertebrates because the Department of Interiors definition of fish and wildlife was limited to vertebrates. However, with time, researchers noticed that the animals on the species list still were not getting enough protection

Hoover Natural Preserve, a freshwater marsh. The park has a number of waterfalls, a wide variety of environments, many animals and abundant bird life – including Stellers jays, herons. Contrary to popular belief that people did not inhabit the old growth forests, archaeological evidence has been found, although sporadically. Ohlone tribes that lived on watercoures which begin in Big Basin Redwoods State Park were the Quiroste, Achistaca and Sayante. In October 1769 the Portola expedition discovered the redwoods of southern Santa Cruz County, although many in the party had been ill with scurvy, they gorged themselves on berries and quickly recovered. This miraculous recovery, as it seemed at the time, inspired the name given to the valley, although he did not fight Spanish soldiers until early 1793, Charquin had harbored fugitive neophytes since November 1791. Charquin and his followers retreated into the country behind Point Ano Nuevo in late 1791, lands that were equidistant from the missions San Francisco, Santa Clara.

From there he invited dissatisfied neophytes to join him, on January 6,1793, Mission San Francisco servant Diego Olbera baptized a 22-year-old woman on the verge of death ‘at the Quiroste village in the Mountains’. Olbera was probably in the vicinity to convince Charquin and his followers to return to the Mission, but the success of Charquin goaded the soldiers into action. No known diary stemming from any successful expedition against Charquin exists, yet indirect evidence exist that one did take place, and that it occurred in late April and early May 1793. An entry in the Mission San Francisco Libro de Difuntos on May 3,1793 recorded the death of two children of families in the mountain Quiroste Village of Chipletac. Charquin seems to have captured at that time

Surfing is a surface water sport in which the wave rider, referred to as a surfer, rides on the forward or deep face of a moving wave, which is usually carrying the surfer towards the shore. Waves suitable for surfing are primarily found in the ocean, surfers can utilize artificial waves such as those from boat wakes and the waves created in artificial wave pools. The term surfing refers to the act of riding a wave, regardless of whether the wave is ridden with a board or without a board, and regardless of the stance used. The native peoples of the Pacific, for instance, surfed waves on alaia and other such craft, and did so on their belly and knees. The modern-day definition of surfing, most often refers to a riding a wave standing up on a surfboard. Another prominent form of surfing is body boarding, when a surfer rides a wave on a bodyboard, either lying on their belly, drop knee, other types of surfing include knee boarding, surf matting, and using foils. Body surfing, where the wave is surfed without a board, using the surfers own body to catch, recently with the use of V-drive boats, Wakesurfing, in which one surfs on the wake of a boat, has emerged.

For centuries, surfing was a part of ancient Polynesian culture. Surfing may have first been observed by British explorers at Tahiti in 1767, samuel Wallis and the crew members of the Dolphin who were the first Britons to visit the island in June of that year. Another candidate is the botanistJoseph Banks being part of the first voyage of James Cook on the HMS Endeavour, who arrived on Tahiti on 10 April 1769. Lieutenant James King was the first person to write about the art of surfing on Hawaii when he was completing the journals of Captain James Cook upon Cooks death in 1779. When Mark Twain visited Hawaii in 1866 he wrote, In one place we came upon a company of naked natives. In July 1885, three teenage Hawaiian princes took a break from their school, St. Mathew’s Hall in San Mateo. George Freeth is often credited as being the Father of Modern Surfing and he is thought to have been the first modern surfer. In 1907, the interests of the land baron Henry E. Huntington brought the ancient art of surfing to the California coast.

While on vacation, Huntington had seen Hawaiian boys surfing the island waves, looking for a way to entice visitors to the area of Redondo Beach, where he had heavily invested in real estate, he hired a young Hawaiian to ride surfboards. George Freeth decided to revive the art of surfing, but had success with the huge 16-foot hardwood boards that were popular at that time. When he cut them in half to them more manageable, he created the original Long board

The Point Reyes Lighthouse attracts whale-watchers looking for the Gray Whale migrating south in mid-January, the Point Reyes Lifeboat Station is a National Historic Landmark. It is the last remaining example of a rail launched lifeboat station that was common on the Pacific coast and this encompasses 5,965 acres along the coast of Drakes Bay. Kule Loklo, a recreated Coast Miwok village, is a walk from the visitor center. The Point Reyes National Seashore attracts 2.5 million visitors annually, hostelling International USA maintains a 45-bed youth hostel at the Seashore. Point Reyes National Seashore Association, formed in 1964, collaborates with the Seashore on maintenance, like underwater parks, these marine protected areas help conserve ocean wildlife and marine ecosystems. A large shellfish farm raising Japanese oysters, Crassostrea gigas, was located in Drakes Estero until, under court order, Court appeals to keep the operation in place were dropped in December,2014. The farm was purchased by the National Park Service in 1972, a federal law enacted in 2009 authorized, but did not require, Interior SecretaryKen Salazar to renew the permit.

The NPS and conservation groups viewed the farm as an inappropriate and environmentally-insensitive use of the estero, the farms supporters argued that it was not ecologically harmful and was important to the local economy. Salazar visited the farm the previous week and phoned the farms owner to give him the news. The oyster farm closure was challenged in U. S. District Court on January 25,2013, the challenge was rejected by a federal court judge, who ruled that the law gave Salazar unfettered discretion to approve or deny a renewal of the permit. The California Coastal Commission voted on February 7,2013 to unanimously approve cease and desist, an attempt to have the appeals court rehear the case was rejected on January 14,2014 and a petition to the United States Supreme Court was denied on June 30,2014

Muir Woods National Monument is a unit of the National Park Service on Mount Tamalpais near the Pacific coast, in southwestern Marin County, California. It is part of the Golden Gate National Recreation Area, and is 12 miles north of San Francisco and it protects 554 acres, of which 240 acres are old growth coast redwood forests, one of a few such stands remaining in the San Francisco Bay Area. The Muir Woods National Monument is an old-growth coastal redwood forest, due to its proximity to the Pacific Ocean, the forest is regularly shrouded in a coastal marine layer fog, contributing to a wet environment that encourages vigorous plant growth. The fog is vital for the growth of the redwoods as they use moisture from the fog during droughty seasons, the monument is cool and moist year round with average daytime temperatures between 40 and 70 degrees Fahrenheit. Rainfall is heavy during the winter and summers are almost completely dry with the exception of fog drip caused by the fog passing through the trees.

Annual precipitation in the ranges from 39.4 inches in the lower valley to 47.2 inches higher up in the mountain slopes. The redwoods grow on brown humus-rich loam which may be gravelly and this soil has been assigned to the Centissima series, which is always found on sloping ground. It is well drained, moderately deep, and slightly to moderately acidic and it has developed from a mélange in the Franciscan Formation. More open areas of the park have shallow gravelly loam of the Barnabe series, one hundred and fifty million years ago ancestors of redwood and sequoia trees grew throughout the United States. Today, the Sequoia sempervirens can be only in a narrow, cool coastal belt from Monterey, California. Before the logging industry came to California, there were an estimated 2 million acres of old growth forest containing redwoods growing in a strip along the coast. By the early 20th century, most of these forests had been cut down, just north of the San Francisco Bay, one valley named Redwood Canyon remained uncut, mainly due to its relative inaccessibility.

He and his wife, Elizabeth Thacher Kent, purchased 611 acres of land from the Tamalpais Land and Water Company for $45,000 with the goal of protecting the redwoods and the mountain above them. In 1907, a company in nearby Sausalito planned to dam Redwood Creek. When Kent objected to the plan, the company threatened to use eminent domain. Kent sidestepped the water companys plot by donating 295 acres of the redwood forest to the federal government, on January 9,1908, President Theodore Roosevelt declared the land a National Monument, the first to be created from land donated by a private individual. President Roosevelt agreed, writing back, MY DEAR MR, responding to some photographs of Muir Woods that Mr. Kent had sent him, Those are awfully good photos. Kent and Muir had become friends over shared views of wilderness preservation, in December 1928, the Kent Memorial was erected at the Kent Tree in Fern Canyon

Devils Postpile National Monument is located near Mammoth Mountain in eastern California. The national monument protects Devils Postpile, a rock formation of columnar basalt. In addition, the John Muir Trail and Pacific Crest Trail merge into one trail as they pass through the monument, excluding a small developed area containing the monument headquarters, visitor center and a campground, the National Monument lies within the borders of the Ansel Adams Wilderness. The monument was once part of Yosemite National Park, but discovery of gold in 1905 near Mammoth Lakes prompted a change that left the Postpile on adjacent public land. Later, a proposal to build a dam called for blasting the Postpile into the river. Influential Californians, including John Muir, persuaded the government to stop the demolition and, in 1911. The flora and fauna at Devils Postpile are typical of the Sierra Nevada, dark-eyed juncos and white-crowned sparrows are common in the summer. The name Devils Postpile refers to a cliff of columnar basalt.

Radiometric dating indicates the formation was created by a flow at some time less than 100,000 years ago. Estimates of the thickness range from 400 feet to 600 feet. The lava that now makes up the Postpile was near the bottom of this mass, because of its great thickness, much of the mass of pooled lava cooled slowly and evenly, which is why the columns are so long and so symmetrical. Columnar jointing occurs when certain types of contract while cooling. A glacier removed much of this mass of rock and left a surface on top of the columns with very noticeable glacial striations. The Postpiles columns average 2 feet in diameter, the largest being 3.5 feet, together they look like tall posts stacked in a pile, hence the features name. If the lava had cooled perfectly evenly, all of the columns would be expected to be hexagonal, but some of the columns have different polygonal cross-sections due to variations in cooling. A survey of 400 of the Postpiles columns found that 44. 5% were 6-sided,37. 5% 5-sided,9. 5% 4-sided,8.

0% 7-sided, compared with other examples of columnar jointing, the Postpile has more hexagonal columns. Another feature that places the Postpile in a category is the lack of horizontal jointing. Several stones from the Devils Postpile can be seen at the entrance to the United States Geological Survey headquarters lot in Reston, although the basaltic columns are impressive, they are not unique

Taco Bell is an American chain of fast-food restaurants based in Irvine, California. Brands, Inc. they serve a variety of Tex-Mex foods, including tacos, quesadillas, other specialty items, and a variety of value menu items. Taco Bell serves more than 2 billion customers each year in 7,000 restaurants, Taco Bell was founded by Glen Bell, who first opened a hot dog stand called Bells Drive-In in San Bernardino, California in 1946 when he was 23 years old. In 1950, he opened Bells Hamburgers and Hot Dogs in San Bernardinos West Side barrio, in late 1951 or early 1952, he took what he had learned and opened a new stand, this time selling tacos under the name of Taco-Tia. Over the next few years, Bell owned and operated a number of restaurants in southern California including four called El Taco, Bell sold the El Tacos to his partner and built the first Taco Bell in Downey in 1962. On the night of Nov.19,2015, the original Taco Bell building in Downey was moved to the Taco Bell Corporate Headquarters in Irvine, CA.

Kermit Becky, a former Los Angeles police officer, bought the first Taco Bell franchise from Glen Bell in 1964, the company grew rapidly, and by 1967, the 100th restaurant opened at 400 South Brookhurst in Anaheim. In 1968, its first franchise location east of the Mississippi River opened in Springfield, in 1970, Taco Bell went public with 325 restaurants. In 1978, PepsiCo purchased Taco Bell from Glen Bell, several locations in the Midwestern United States were converted from Zantigo, a Minneapolis, Minnesota-based Mexican chain which PepsiCo acquired in 1986. In 1991, Taco Bell opened the first Taco Bell Express in San Francisco and this concept is a reduced-size restaurant with a limited menu, meant to emphasize volume. Taco Bell Express locations operate primarily inside convenience stores, truck stops, shopping malls, Taco Bell began co-branding with KFC in 1995 when the first such co-brand opened in Clayton, North Carolina. The chain has since co-branded with Pizza Hut and Long John Silvers as well, in 1997, PepsiCo experimented with a new fresh grill concept, opening at least one Border Bell restaurant in Mountain View, California on El Camino Real.

Close to the time that PepsiCo spun off its restaurant business in 1997, the menu will consist of tacos with American fillings, and will not sell food sold in Taco Bell restaurants such as burritos. It was launched in Huntington Beach, California in August 2014, Taco bell plans to have a wider roll out of this functionality in the coming months. In September 2000, up to $50 million worth of Taco Bell-branded shells were recalled from supermarkets, the shells contained genetically modified corn that was not approved for human consumption. It was the recall of genetically modified food. Corn was not segregated at grain elevators and the miller in Texas did not order that type, in 2001, Tricon Global Restaurants, 20% owners of Taco Bell at the time, announced a $60 million settlement with the suppliers. They stated that it would go to Taco Bell franchisees and TGR would not take any of it, in March 2005, the Coalition of Immokalee Workers won a landmark victory in its national boycott of Taco Bell for human rights

These highways climb from the coast to 2,400 ft above sea level, the great bowl of the surrounding desert is surrounded by mountains, with the Vallecito Mountains to the south and the highest Santa Rosa Mountains to the north. They are in the wilderness area, without paved roads. In January of 2017 Anza-Borrego Desert State Park was named the best state park in California, the habitats of ABDSP are primarily within the Colorado Desert ecosystem of the Sonoran Desertecoregion. The higher extreme northern and eastern sections in the Peninsular Ranges are in the California montane chaparral, the park features and desert washes, rock formations and colorful badlands, vast arid landscapes, and dramatic mountains. The bajadas are predominantly creosote bush-bur sage with creosote bush and the palo verde-cactus shrub ecosystems with the palo verde tree, cacti, in the washes, Colorado/Sonoran microphylla woodlands can be found. These woodlands include such plants as tree, velvet mesquite. ABDSP has natural springs and oases, with the only native palm.

Seasonal wildflower displays can be stunning in any plant community association throughout the park, the high-country to the north and east has closed-cone pine forests and oak woodlands. The oases are prolific with all types of fauna, especially for bird-watching, in the reptile class, desert iguanas and the red diamond rattlesnakes can be seen — with caution. ===Desert bighorn sheep=== Some areas of ABDSP are habitat for the Peninsular bighorn sheep, few park visitors see them, and the sheep are justly wary. A patient few observers each year see and count this endangered species to study the population, the expanses of ABDSPs eroded badlands provide a different view into the regions long-vanished tropical past. The inland of southeastern California was not always a desert, the study of the fossilized remains of ancient life, is the key to understanding this prehistoric world

Pacifica is a city in San Mateo County, California, on the coast of the Pacific Ocean between San Francisco and Half Moon Bay. The City of Pacifica is spread along a stretch of coastal beaches. The city comprises several small valleys spread between Sweeney Ridge in the east, Montara Mountain to the south, and the Pacific Oceans rocky bluffs to the west, Pacifica is well known regionally as a popular surfing destination. Surfers and families often visit Linda Mar Beach, rockaway Beach is a scenic location and offers recreation and dining. 2005 marked the opening of the top ranked Pacifica Skateboard Park, fishermen frequent the local beaches and the Pacifica Pier, often catching Striped Bass and Salmon. Pacifica is home to the Sharp Park Golf Course, which was designed in 1931 by architect Alister MacKenzie, the world class bromeliad nursery, Shelldance Orchid Gardens is located just off Highway 1 in Pacifica, adjacent to the Sweeney Ridge hiking trailhead. Park Pacifica in south east portions of the city, the 2010 United States Census reported that Pacifica had a population of 37,234.

The population density was 2,941.1 people per square mile, the Census reported that 37,052 people lived in households,64 lived in non-institutionalized group quarters, and 118 were institutionalized. There were 869 unmarried opposite-sex partnerships, and 237 same-sex married couples or partnerships,3,126 households were made up of individuals and 1,098 had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.65, there were 9,686 families, the average family size was 3.12. The median age was 41.5 years, for every 100 females there were 95.6 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 93.4 males. There were 14,523 housing units at a density of 1,147.2 per square mile, of which 9,545 were owner-occupied. The homeowner vacancy rate was 0. 9%, the vacancy rate was 4. 8%. 26,567 people lived in owner-occupied housing units and 10,485 people lived in housing units. As of the census of 2000, there were 38,390 people,13,994 households, the population density was 3,038.9 people per square mile.

There were 14,245 housing units at a density of 1,127.6 per square mile. 21. 2% of all households were made up of individuals and 6. 4% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older, the average household size was 2.73 and the average family size was 3.21

The Big Sur section from San Luis Obispo to Carmel is an official National Scenic Byway, the entire route is designated as a Blue Star Memorial Highway to recognize those in the United States armed forces. In Southern California, the California Legislature has designated the segment between Interstate 5 in Dana Point and US101 near Oxnard as the Pacific Coast Highway, the legislature has designated the route as the Shoreline Highway between the Manzanita Junction near Marin City and Leggett. Smaller segments of the highway have been assigned other names by the state. The legislature has relinquished state control of segments within Dana Point, Newport Beach, Santa Monica, and Oxnard. The route annually helps bring several billion dollars to the tourism industry. Segments of Highway 1 range from a rural road to an urban freeway. Because of the former, long distance thru traffic traveling between the metropolitan areas are instead advised to use faster routes such as US101 or I-5. At its southernmost end in Orange County, Highway 1 terminates at I-5 in Capistrano Beach in Dana Point and it travels west into the city center.

San Mateo County, officially the County of San Mateo, is a county located in the U.S. state of California. As of the 2010 census, the population was 718,451. The county seat is Redwood City.San Mateo County is included in the San Francisco-Oakland-Hayward, Calif. Metropolitan …

Pacifica is a city in San Mateo County, California, on the coast of the Pacific Ocean between San Francisco and Half Moon Bay. — Overview — The City of Pacifica is spread along a six-mile stretch of coastal beaches and hills in north central California. The city comprises several …

California is a state in the Pacific Region of the United States. With 39.6 million residents, California is the most populous U.S. state and the third-largest by area. The state capital is Sacramento. The Greater Los Angeles Area and the San Francisco Bay Area are the nation's second and fifth …

State Route 1 is a major north–south state highway that runs along most of the Pacific coastline of the U.S. state of California. At a total of just over 659 miles, it is the longest state route in California. SR 1 has several portions designated as either Pacific Coast Highway …

Southbound PCH in Crystal Cove State Park near Laguna Beach

Bixby Canyon Bridge under construction in 1932

Convict labor from Folsom Prison was paid 35 cents per day to help build the roadway.

Cyclists descend SR 1 at Devil's Slide on Stage 2 of the 2012 Tour of California before the segment was bypassed one year later by the Tom Lantos Tunnels

Surfing is a surface water sport in which the wave rider, referred to as a surfer, rides on the forward or deep face of a moving wave, which usually carries the surfer towards the shore. Waves suitable for surfing are primarily found in the ocean, but can also be found in lakes or rivers in the …

Taco Bell is an American chain of fast food restaurants based out of Irvine, California and a subsidiary of Yum! Brands, Inc. The restaurants serve a variety of Tex-Mex foods that include tacos, burritos, quesadillas, nachos, novelty and specialty items, and a variety of "value menu" items. As of …

The Endangered Species Act of 1973 serves as the enacting legislation to carry out the provisions outlined in The Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora. Designed to protect critically imperiled species from extinction …

Beach nourishment describes a process by which sediment, usually sand, lost through longshore drift or erosion is replaced from other sources. A wider beach can reduce storm damage to coastal structures by …

Beaches along the Gold Coast of Australia have been subjected to a beach nourishment project.

Beach nourishment device

Before and after photos of beach restoration efforts, Florida coastline

A trail is usually a path, track or unpaved lane or road. In the United Kingdom and the Republic of Ireland path or footpath is the preferred term for a walking trail. The term is also applied, in North America, to routes along rivers, and sometimes to highways. In the US, the term was historically …

Fragaria chiloensis, the beach strawberry, Chilean strawberry, or coastal strawberry, is one of two species of wild strawberry that were hybridized to create the modern garden strawberry. It is noted for its large berries. Its natural range is the Pacific Ocean coasts of North and …

The National Park Service is an agency of the United States federal government that manages all national parks, many national monuments, and other conservation and historical properties with various title designations. It was created on August 25, 1916, by Congress through the National Park …

In 1934, a series of ten postage stamps were issued to commemorate the reorganization and expansion of the National Park Service.

Depicts twelve figures, most in NPS uniforms, shown in occupations from left to right: a lifeguard, a Civil War reenactor, fire management, mounted patrol, researcher and/or natural resources with fish, a female ranger with two visitors, a laborer, a climber/rescuer, and a youth with a male ranger.

Death Valley National Park is an American national park that straddles the California—Nevada border, east of the Sierra Nevada. The park boundaries include Death Valley, the northern section of Panamint Valley, the southern section of Eureka Valley, and most of Saline Valley. The park occupies an …

Joshua Tree National Park is an American national park in southeastern California, east of Los Angeles, near San Bernardino and Palm Springs. The park is named for the Joshua trees native to the Mojave Desert. Originally declared a national monument in 1936, Joshua Tree was …

Aerial view of the desert wilderness area in the northeast corner of Joshua Tree National Park, and the transition zone between Mojave Desert and Colorado Desert. The upper part of the image is Mojave Desert north of the park.

Kings Canyon National Park is an American national park in the southern Sierra Nevada, in Fresno and Tulare Counties, California. Originally established in 1890 as General Grant National Park, the park was greatly expanded and renamed to Kings Canyon National Park on March 4, 1940. The park's …

View of Kings Canyon, looking south from Paradise Valley

Dusy Basin includes many small lakes, such as this one, carved by glaciers from granite.

Lassen Volcanic National Park is an American national park in northeastern California. The dominant feature of the park is Lassen Peak, the largest plug dome volcano in the world and the southernmost volcano in the Cascade Range. Lassen Volcanic National Park started as two separate national …

Pinnacles National Park is an American national park protecting a mountainous area located east of the Salinas Valley in Central California, about five miles east of Soledad and 80 miles southeast of San Jose. The park's namesakes are the eroded leftovers of the western half of an …

The Redwood National and State Parks are a complex of several state and national parks located in the United States, along the coast of northern California. Comprising Redwood National Park and California's Del Norte Coast, Jedediah Smith, and Prairie Creek Redwoods State …

Sequoia National Park is an American national park in the southern Sierra Nevada east of Visalia, California. The park was established on September 25, 1890 to protect 404,064 acres of forested mountainous terrain. Encompassing a vertical relief of nearly 13,000 …

Yosemite National Park is an American national park located in the western Sierra Nevada of Central California, bounded on the southeast by Sierra National Forest and on the northwest by Stanislaus National Forest. The park is managed by the National Park Service and covers an area …

Cabrillo National Monument is at the southern tip of the Point Loma Peninsula in San Diego, California, United States. It commemorates the landing of Juan Rodríguez Cabrillo at San Diego Bay on September 28, 1542. This event marked the first time a European expedition had set foot on what later …

Devils Postpile National Monument is a National Monument located near Mammoth Mountain in eastern California. The monument protects Devils Postpile, an unusual rock formation of columnar basalt. It encompasses 798 acres and includes two main tourist attractions: the Devils Postpile …

Basalt columns of Devils Postpile

Rainbow Falls at Devils Postpile National Monument

The tops of the postpile columns are accessible to visitors. The shapes of the columns are seen clearly here.

Lava Beds National Monument is located in northeastern California, in Siskiyou and Modoc counties. The monument lies on the northeastern flank of Medicine Lake Volcano and has the largest total area covered by a volcano in the Cascade Range. — The region in and around Lava Beds National Monument lies …

Muir Woods National Monument is a United States National Monument managed by the National Park Service. It is located on Mount Tamalpais near the Pacific coast, in southwestern Marin County, California. It is part of the Golden Gate National Recreation Area, and is 12 miles north of San …

Point Reyes National Seashore is a 71,028-acre park preserve located on the Point Reyes Peninsula in Marin County, California. As a national seashore, it is maintained by the US National Park Service as an important nature preserve. Some existing agricultural uses are allowed to …

Headlands of the Point Reyes Peninsula from Chimney Rock, looking north.

Point Reyes National Seashore

Point Reyes National Shoreline 2018

A group of people gathered to watch the sunset at Point Reyes National Seashore.

Rosie the Riveter/World War II Home Front National Historical Park is a United States national historical park located in Richmond, California, near San Francisco. The park preserves and interprets the legacy of the United States home front during World War II, including the Kaiser Richmond …

Eastine Cowner, former waitress, works on a ship under construction

The Rosie Memorial in October 2007

A welder looks up from her work at Richmond shipyard, 1943

Midnight-shift shipyard worker Arlene Corbin (right) brings her daughter to a day care facility before going home to sleep

The San Francisco Maritime National Historical Park is located in San Francisco, California, United States. The park includes a fleet of historic vessels, a visitor center, a maritime museum, and a library/research facility. The park used to be referred to as the San Francisco Maritime Museum …

Fort Point is a masonry seacoast fortification located on the southern side of the Golden Gate at the entrance to San Francisco Bay. It is also the geographic name of the promontory upon which the fort and the southern approach of the Golden Gate Bridge were constructed.The fort was completed just …

Manzanar is most widely known as the site of one of ten American concentration camps where over 110,000 Japanese Americans were incarcerated during World War II from December 1942 to 1945. Located at the foot of the Sierra Nevada in California's Owens Valley between the towns of Lone Pine to the …

A hot windstorm brings dust from the surrounding desert July 3, 1942.

"Wooden sign at entrance to the Manzanar War Relocation Center with a car at the gatehouse in the background.", c. 1943

The Santa Monica Mountains National Recreation Area is a United States National Recreation Area containing many individual parks and open space preserves, located primarily in the Santa Monica Mountains of Southern California. The SMMNRA is located within the greater Los Angeles region, with two …

Angel Island is an island in San Francisco Bay offering expansive 360° views of the San Francisco skyline, the Marin County Headlands and Mount Tamalpais. The entire island is included within Angel Island State Park and is administered by California State Parks. The island, a California Historical …

Angel Island

Port of Angel Island

Angel Island as seen from the Angel Island Ferry near Tiburon, California

Trione-Annadel State Park is a state park of California in the United States. It is situated at the northern edge of Sonoma Valley and is adjacent to Spring Lake Regional Park in Santa Rosa. It offers many recreational activities within its 5,092-acre property. — The rock formations of …

Anza-Borrego Desert State Park is a California state park located within the Colorado Desert of southern California, United States. The park takes its name from 18th century Spanish explorer Juan Bautista de Anza and borrego, the Spanish word for sheep. With 600,000 acres that …

Big Basin Redwoods State Park is a state park in the U.S. state of California, located in Santa Cruz County, about 36 km northwest of Santa Cruz. The park contains almost all of the Waddell Creek watershed, which was formed by the seismic uplift of its rim, and the erosion of its center by …

Mojave National Preserve is a United States National Preserve located in the Mojave Desert of San Bernardino County, California, USA, between Interstate 15 and Interstate 40. The preserve was established October 31, 1994, with the passage of the California Desert Protection Act by the US Congress …

The World War II Valor in the Pacific National Monument was a U.S. National Monument honoring events, people, and sites of the Pacific Theater engagement of the United States during World War II. The John D. Dingell, Jr. Conservation, Management, and Recreation Act, signed into law March 12, 2019 …